.308 - Lapua or Winchester Brass? Factory FGMM or Handloads?

What are your thoughts on this. I'm working on a custom 20" 1/10 .308 for hunting, target, etc. I've got all the reloading stuffs (press, etc) less the .308 dies and am wondering about loads/brass/etc.

Do you shoot Factory Federal Gold Medal Match? Handloads or what? The way I have it figured I can reload with Winchester brass and be about $.15/rnd cheaper than factory FGMM or reload with Lapua and be a little above FGMM. I'm wanting to shoot the 175g SMK, etc.

How does Winchester brass compare to Lapua? I know Lapua is the best, but I can get two bags of Win for $37 (100) compared to $65/100 of Lapua. Is it really that much better? I think I'd rather be able to get 2x the brass and have a ton of ammo as opposed to a couple hundred rounds of Lapua, but if it's that much better I will do it!

Say I did the FGMM route. Is the brass good enough to reload a few times or is the Win and Lapua both much better?

Location: The rifle range, or archery range or behind the computer in Alaska

Posts: 3,595

Re: .308 - Lapua or Winchester Brass? Factory FGMM or Handloads?

My thoughts are that win brass SUCKS. If you dont want to fork the coin for Lapua brass, Remington cases have been very good the last couple of years. You still need to de-burr the flash holes etc....but the consistency from case to case and lot to lot has been very good. I do like the Lapua brass quite a bit but since the price for 100 went from 35 bucks to 80 bucks, I am not sure I like it that much more than the Remington brass.

As far as GMM ammo, it is good stuff. I never had any luck with the 175 GMM ammo despite having great luck with the 175 in hand loads and the 168 GMM ammo. The best thing here is to try it and see if your gun likes it. Personally, I like to hand load. I can fine tune a load and use other match bullets such as the 190 SMK which in my opinion is a much better 308 match load than the 175. The 208 AMAX is even better.

Hope that helps!

M

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Long range shooting is a process that ends with a result. Once you start to focus on the result (how bad your last shot was, how big the group is going to be, what your buck will score, what your match score is, what place you are in...) then you loose the capacity to focus on the process.

Michael, you're the dude that did the tests with the 208's. I couldn't find that thread today...

I am really more interested in the 190-208 more than anything! I didn't mention it in my original post for some reason. Can you tell me if you can load a 190 smk and/or 208 amax with a COAL short enough to fit in an AI mag and still be successful/get the most of the bullet? What's your thoughts on this? Some loads to get started on before my gun is built?

Location: The rifle range, or archery range or behind the computer in Alaska

Posts: 3,595

Re: .308 - Lapua or Winchester Brass? Factory FGMM or Handloads?

Quote:

Originally Posted by KPK

Michael, you're the dude that did the tests with the 208's. I couldn't find that thread today...

I am really more interested in the 190-208 more than anything! I didn't mention it in my original post for some reason. Can you tell me if you can load a 190 smk and/or 208 amax with a COAL short enough to fit in an AI mag and still be successful/get the most of the bullet? What's your thoughts on this? Some loads to get started on before my gun is built?

I think you have mistaken me for somebody else. I have worked with the 208's but I am not the guy who 'pioneered' them in the 308. I think that may have been MontanaRifleman? Not sure.

You can easily load the 190 SMK to the standard 2.800". I am not sure what an 'AI' magazine is but with the Wyatt box in my 700, I can load them to 2.975 which allows them to feed in and out of the magazine just fine. The only way I have been able to do that and still keep the speed up is to use VV N550 instead of RL17. The kernals are smaller which settle better and it takes a grain or two less to hit 2600-2610 FPS allowing for more seating depth.

M

__________________
__________________
Long range shooting is a process that ends with a result. Once you start to focus on the result (how bad your last shot was, how big the group is going to be, what your buck will score, what your match score is, what place you are in...) then you loose the capacity to focus on the process.

I think you have mistaken me for somebody else. I have worked with the 208's but I am not the guy who 'pioneered' them in the 308. I think that may have been MontanaRifleman? Not sure.

You can easily load the 190 SMK to the standard 2.800". I am not sure what an 'AI' magazine is but with the Wyatt box in my 700, I can load them to 2.975 which allows them to feed in and out of the magazine just fine. The only way I have been able to do that and still keep the speed up is to use VV N550 instead of RL17. The kernals are smaller which settle better and it takes a grain or two less to hit 2600-2610 FPS allowing for more seating depth.

M

Cool thanks for the info. AI is Accuracy International. Maybe you where someone that was talking in the thread? How do you like the 190smk and/or 190 bergers?